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PGC - Main Themes of the Day 3 - Saturday, 1 June 2024
Formation and Celebration
In anglo-saxon societies, the custom of what is called “the English week” is to begin the weekly rest on Friday evening. The PGC has chosen to break with this custom, but with no hidden scorn for American culture. Progress had to be made if we wanted to “go one step further”.
In keeping with its mission to form missionary disciples for the Congregation and the Church, the PGC focused this Saturday's work on the specific question of specialized studies. The General Chapter already specifies that the purpose of studies is guided by the missionary (apostolic) needs of the Congregation. Within each (Vice)Province, we have identified our needs in terms of people or positions to be filled, in order to maintain the apostolic vitality of our Provinces and the Congregation. This also means identifying the human resources available, the objective criteria for choosing candidates for training, and the places and opportunities for study. In the same vein of formation, the PGC examined the dossiers of brothers in view of their first apostolic appointments for the first three years of their priestly ministry.
As the PGC is also a privileged time for meeting with the brothers and sisters of the host province, the whole team travelled from its usual place of work to the parish/sanctuary of St Anne and St Patrick in Sturbridge. This precious moment was first and foremost a time of encounter with the local Christian community and with the Lord, during the celebration of the “Corpus Christi” Eucharist, presided by Very Reverend Father Ngoa Ya Tshihemba, Superior General. In his homily, he exhorted the Congregation with words dear to Saint Augustine: “Remain what you are and become what you receive, the Body of Christ”, so as to be “good stewards of the Kingdom which the Lord entrusts to our care”, as the faithful of this parish usually pray at the beginning of each Sunday assembly. And, following the example of the assemblies of the Christian communities of antiquity, the Lord's first table was complemented by agapes carefully prepared by the parish community. Many thanks from the members of the PGC.
Sunday will be mainly taken up with a visit to the city of Boston, with dinner at the Provincial House and a meeting with the Brighton community.
Happy Corpus Christi Sunday.
P. Thierry KAHONGYA